Morris tribune., 1887-10-05
BEATTIES APPARITION.

BEATTIES APPARITI0N.
The city was creeping up that way;
there was no manner Of doubt about that.
Indeed, why should one say it was creep
ing upt It had crept up already. To be
sure, there were lone blocks here and
there as yet, defined solely by line of
eurbstones, intersected at right angles by
unpaved roads that after rains, turned
into canals Of oozing mud, and bestrewed
over their quadrangular expanse with
elected tomato cans, old shoes and such
rubbish generally rs hasituaRy tenants
those waste suburban spaces given over to
to the frolicsome goat-blocks, in short,
which q belated wayfarer in the vicinity of
the park would be apt to pass through at
a more or less rapid pace after 10 o'clock
at night
But other blocks again were, always
with gaps and hiatuses Of empty lots be-
tween, what one might call built up. A
semi-rural mode of life obtained with the
inhabitants, some of whom kept a few
chickens in their yards. Many Of these
houses wers divided into flats, and the sep
arate dwellings brought low rents. as yet.
1t was refuge within city limits for bust
ness men who had failed honorably, not
being quite abreast of the progressive
spirit Of the times, and for unambitious
young people beginning life-ot these there
were not many.
Now, a number Of these houses-in
fact whole rows here and there in the vi
cinity-were owned by Timothy Pinck-
ney, and it has been said that they
brought comparatively low rents. Never
theless Timothy was well content. He
knew that the rents would increase by
and by. And he held on to his property
and dreamed dreams Of the future when
it would make him many times O million
aire.
This prospective millionaire, with now
more money in his Golfers than any one
knew, lived in o two-story white frame
house whose rear yard was contingent to
the rear Of some of those very houses
owned by him. No one ever saw the in
side of that two story frame dwelling for
the simple reason that Timothy had no
friends, relatives or acquaintance He
had q daughter, to be sure-a young,
plump and black eyed thing, with long,
demure lashes, who occasionally appeared
at the door when tinman came around
to negotiate exchanges of old bottles and
rags. But Timothy evidently intended to
keep his Bertha's charms safely away
from the covetous eyes of gallants. The
women of the neighborhood-for instance,
the undertaker's wife across the lot-were
quite aware that black eyed Bertha never
had new frock from years end to years
end; no, 'fnor new bunnit, neither"
Well, Timothy was o pitiless and pitt
full old miser; there was no question of
that. And, seeing that he was progress
ing in years, he ought to have commenced
to realize, mark and repent Of the evil
of his course. But it is safe to surmise
that his conscience had given him no I'M
easiness of any sort this long time past
His digestion was rs satisfactory as that
of an ostrich, and his thoughts were pleas
antly occupied with airy or arduous COM
putations, as the case might be, day in
and day out. When the stomach and the
brain are thus in good condition it is as
tonishing how little place there remains
for conscience in all the human mechan-
ism.
However, one hot night in June Tim
othy came home not feeling quite so well
as usual. The day had been sultry and
he had walked about a great deal in the
busy marts Of commerce down town and
i13r the sun. He had headache an6> it
made him cross. But after Bertha had
gotten him his supper, and he had no ap-
petite for it, these novel phenomena made
him pensive instead.
He went ont in his back yard and sat
down on an overturned barrel and began
to breathe the evening air. It was heavy,
and compounded Of many local and IN
digenous odors, not all of them pleasant.
On one side there was gap in the wooden
rails Of the fence. That gap opened ont
upon several empty corner lots, rocky in
places, and gave an uninterrupted view of
the CHASTITY undertaker's emblem by the
side Of that functionary's dwelling, di-
agonally across on the next street.
Timothy could not see it this evening 1t
was too dark. But he knew it was there,
and the knowledge somehow was uncom-
| Portable.
A more agreeable object of contempla-
| ton presented itself in the row of build
| ings before him, the row which represented
portion Of his possessions. But his
mind seemed determined to take a new
course this evening. His thoughts, start
| ing from the row Of buildings, began to
travel backward over the years gone by,
and the first acquisitions which had
marked them. For the first time in
Lord! how many yearsf-he thought of
Beattie. Now, there was no denying that
his acquaintance. with Beattie. Beattie
had given him great deal Of good advice.
Yes, and he was very sorry that things
turned out just as they did with regard to
Beattie. Very sorry. But man has got
to look out for himself Timothy now re-
peated that assertion to himself, rising in
rebellion against this suddenly resurrected
pang Of a guilty conscience; repeated it
with heat. Some people might say that
he had ruined Beattie-Beattie, who had
| been his first friend-and left him to die
in the poorhouse; but he, Timothy Pinck-
ney, would always stand up and say that
a man must look out for himself flrsti
Must look out for himself
In the excitement of these unexpected
retrospective memories, Timothy, who had
been sitting there In the pure night much
longer than he knew, raised up his hand
to bring it down with emphasis on his
knee. 1t remained arrested in midair A
trembling seized it. The trembling COM
municated itself to all his body. A cold
sweat beaded his brow. His heart left its
normal place and began to thump and
fiutter horribly in, his throat. In mo-
ment more excess of terror gave him
frantic power of locomotion, succeeding
upon the first interval of paralysis, and he
burst headlong into the kitchen, startling
Bertha into dropping pan she held and
causing her to exclaim, as she beheld his
blanched visage:
''Good land o. mercy, father! What is
the matterf"
GIVE seen ghost +" he said.
y
June went and July came, and with IL
days more suirry and nights more OPP
pressively favored with the odors from
the bone factories across the river.
The plump and black eyed Bertha, poor
child, would doubtless have liked to par
ticipate in that social life which dis
tributed itself over open thresholds and
upon friendly curbstones these breathless
nights, But no such innocent delights
were comprised in Timothy Pinckney's
system of discipline, He believed himself,
in early hours, as being an economy in
light, and six nights out of the seven saw
- rnf nr1w To- l. 4 A.. u Il.